Pretio Interactive Raises Seed Funding from Two Canadian VCs

Pretio Interactive has raised a seed round of funding. The funding comes from two Canadian venture capital firms: Ottawa-based Wesley Clover International and Vancouver’s Yaletown Venture Partners.

Pretio's proprietary platform connects valuable user actions—such as social sharing, commenting and revisiting—with targeted, real-world rewards from top brands to give publishers a robust engagement tool without the liability of a rewards catalogue.

In its first year, the Canadian startup's four million users experienced 100 million reward moments across its network of North American partner websites.

“We are particularly pleased to make this investment in Pretio as it represents the essence of my philosophy of entrepreneurship: customer-led innovation, multi-disciplinary teams and lean deployment,” says Sir Terence Matthews, Wesley Clover Chairman.

“The Pretio team has done a great job building a compelling platform in a sector that is seeing significant growth. Most importantly, they have already attracted solid publishing and brand customers and demonstrated real value to their users," Brad Johns, Partner with Yaletown Venture Partners, said.

Pretio was founded by entrepreneur Tyrone Sinclair and University of Victoria students Alim Jiwa and Rob O’Dwyer.

Victoria-based entrepreneur, Tyrone Sinclair, along with UVic students, Alim Jiwa and Rob O’Dwyer, founded Pretio. Pretio board member, Jim Hayhurst, has been named President of the company as it enters its growth phase.

“We are grateful for the confidence that both Wesley Clover and Yaletown have shown in our team,” said Hayhurst. “This investment will allow Pretio to expand our sales activities, refine our most profitable services and attract more great people to build our company with the velocity that comes from the deep experience of such shareholders.”

Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton is the managing editor of Techvibes.
Based in Vancouver, Knowlton has been published in national publications and has also appeared on television and radio.
Previously he was an editor for New Westminster weekly The Other Press and served on its board of directors.
When not working, Knowlton enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and martial arts.
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